Satan Talk in Corinth: The Rhetoric of Conflict

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to take seriously Paul's references to Satan in their contexts. This language has generally been appropriated by scholars who posit that merely by the mention of Satan Paul's cosmology is radically dualistic, despite the fact that these references to Satan are neither consistent with that portrait of Satan as the antithesis of God, nor do they appear in cosmological discourses. Furthermore, Paul rarely mentions Satan outside of the Corinthian correspondence, where, in each instance, the rhetoric is invoked in light of the disobedience or disloyalty of the community. Witchcraft language is similarly appropriated in various cultural situations, leading to the conclusion that Paul's Satan talk is a phenomenon arising out of social conflict over Paul's authority in Corinth, rather than a reflection of Paul's cosmology.

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